Ken’s third LP implements the lush, gauzy hue its title suggests, seemingly embracing more of a kinship with the first Christopher Cross album and Don McLean’s “American Pie” than the Posies’ “Dear 23” on tracks like the piano-heavy “Known Diamond,” “Cyclone Graves” and the gorgeous intro “You Drew.” However, a closer listen to this album will also find Stringfellow exorcising his recent obsession with reggae on “You Become the Dawn” and its subsequent dub plate “Dawn of the Dub of the Dawn.”
Stringfellow is one of the most underrated songwriters of our generation, and while “Touched” may still remain his all-timer, “Soft Commands” could most definitely be considered his textbook.
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